Routers transmit data across the Internet using the Internet Protocol (“IP”). As known by those in the art, IP serves as the de-facto standard for forwarding data messages (“datagrams”) between network devices connected with the Internet. To that end, IP delivers datagrams across a series of Internet devices, such as routers, in the form of one or more data packets. Each packet has two principal parts: (1) a payload with the information being conveyed (e.g., text, graphic, audio, or video data), and (2) a header, known as an “IP header,” having the address of the network device to receive the packet(s) (the “destination device”), the identity of the network device that sent the packet (the “originating device”), and other data for routing the packet.
IP uses transport layer protocols to establish basic transmission paths between two routing nodes. One widely used transport layer protocol, known as “Transmission Control Protocol” (“TCP”) aims to ensure reliable communication between two routing nodes. Undesirably, however, network changes or network address translation (“NAT”) between two routing nodes using TCP can lead to packet loss, or an abrupt termination of communication between the two routing nodes.